Taking Chances
by Lacking Stealth
Summary: A songfic oneshot. Set twenty years after Fang. It is my rendition of what will happen or what I hope to happen . This is Fax at its purest. I hope you enjoy it.


**I want minimal wordage here, so I'll make this quick. I own neither Maximum Ride nor the song "Taking Chances". JP owns MR and Celine Dion owns the song, though the Glee Cast version is the one I have on my iPod and therefore the inspiration for this songfic.**

**Please, read and review when you are finished. I want the oneshot to be uninterrupted, so I won't put anything at the bottom.**

**Thank you ever so much for reading my humble work,  
**

**Lea**

_

* * *

Don't know much about your life_

_Don't know much about your world, but_

_Don't want to be alone tonight_

_On this planet they call earth_

I sit down next to him, barely making a sound. Fight to keep my breath under control. Sometimes, I hate him so much I wish I never have to see him again. But other times, I love him so much it hurts. We're older than we were before. He probably has a family now. The rest of the flock didn't stick around for too long once they hit eighteen. Why would it be any different with him?

"Hi," I say softly, looking over at him. The moonlight is hitting his face in a way that makes him look so... vulnerable, so young. I can almost forget it's been twenty years. "Hey, you."

_You don't know about my past, and_

_I don't have a future figured out_

_And maybe this is going too fast_

_And maybe it's not meant to last_

"Hi."

There is something in his voice that I can't quite figure out. I used to know him so well. What happened?

_Twenty years, that's what_, says my Voice, the one inside my head.

"Yes?" My voice, my speaking voice, comes out in an undignified squeak. Hmm, you'd think you'd control those raging teenage hormones by thirty-five, but _no_.

He looks at me cautiously, his face the mask it always it. But then he stands and hold out his hand to me. "Come on."

_But, what do you say to taking chances?_

_What do you say to jumping off the edge?_

_Never knowing if there's solid ground below_

_Or hand to hold_

_Or hell to pay_

_What do you say?_

_What do you say?_

I let him pull me to my feet, and we jump off the cliff, spreading our wings easily to coast along the updrafts. Why couldn't we have done this so long ago? Why did it take me so long to figure this out? How beautiful, how wonderful we were together? But as soon as I realized this, he was gone.

Sometimes I wished I never had to see him again, but others... I wanted him so desperately I could do nothing else.

His hand encloses mine as we fly, slightly off-center so we aren't hit with the other's wings on the down beats.

God.

I love him so much.

"What?" His voice is just loud enough to be heard over the rush of the wind. He knows I have to say something, but I still can't tell what he wants. I want to throw my arms around him, I want to hold him and never let go.

And because only he has ever truly got me, we slow to a stop, and are now hovering in the brisk night air.

"I love you," I whisper.

_I just want to start again_

_And maybe you could show me how to try_

_And maybe you could take me in_

_Somewhere underneath your skin_

I need to get back to that place we were, all those years ago. That place where only I could read the tiny little changes in his unchanging expression. That place where we could finish each other's sentences and read each other's minds. That place where he made me feel so calm, so safe. That place where I could forget everything that has happened, and simply be with him.

I need him to say something. Because what I said is true. I love him, I have never stopped. I need him to say something back. I need a reply. I need his voice.

_What do you say to taking chances?_

_What do you say to jumping off the edge?_

_Never knowing if there's solid ground below,_

_Or hand to hold,  
_

_Or hell to pay_

_What do you say_

_What do you say?_

"I love you," I repeat, tears springing to my eyes. He hasn't moved beyond the beat of his wings. He's changed, that's what's it. He doesn't feel the same. He's married. He has kids. He doesn't...

"I love you, too," he murmurs.

"You... you love me." I feel my throat burn, and the tears spring to my eyes. If we weren't in mid air, I'd kiss him.

And without my needing to say anything, we slowly drop into the forest below. We land side-by-side on a high branch of a big, old maple.

"You really love me," I repeat. What if he doesn't love me the way I love him? What if he'll leave again?

_And I had my heart beating down_

_But I always come back for more, yeah_

_There's nothing like love to pull you up_

_When you're laying down on the floor there_

_So talk to me, talk to me_

_Like lovers do_

_Yeah, walk with me, walk with me_

_Like lovers do,_

_Like lovers do_

"I really love you," he murmurs into my ear, drawing an arm around my waist and pulling me close to him.

"Good, because I love you, too," I whisper into the night, hoping my words fall on his ears before they are swallowed by the unforgiving darkness.

"I know," he laughs gently.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

I am never going to let him out of my sight, ever again. I tell him this. His smile— a genuine smile, something so rare from him— catches the dim light from the moon. "Don't leave again."

"I won't."

"Because I'll kill you if you do."

He simply smiles again. We both know it's an empty threat. He'll never leave me ever again. He's mine.

_What do you say to taking chances?_

_What do you say to jumping off the edge?_

_Never knowing if there's solid ground below_

_Or hand to hold,_

_Or hell to pay_

_What do you say?_

_What do you say?_

Before I lose the nerve, I pull his face close to mine, locking my fingers behind his neck.

Before I can think about it, and all the consequences, the outcomes, and what it means now, I lean forward, closing the minute gasp between us, and press my lips softly to his.

His reaction is quick. His lips respond with fervent kisses of their own.

I think I am about to burst. He's like my oxygen, I need him to survive. I am filled with such overwhelming emotion, I feel the tears trekking down my face before I even realize what is happening. Then I realize that _he_ is crying, too.

I pull away in astonishment, wiping at his tear-stained cheeks. I can't discern my tears from his, so I simply wipe my thumb across his cheek. He does the same to me, and it's not long before we are laughing.

Laughing and crying.

Laughing and crying and kissing.

Oh my god. This is what love is. This desperate want, this pure _need_ that fills my soul.

"I love you," he whispers through his kisses.

"I know."

"I really, really love you."

"I know."

_Don't know much about your life_

_Don't know much about your world _

Fang loves me.

He really, really loves me.


End file.
